Dracula (lost Russian film; existence unconfirmed; 1920)

A fan-made poster for the film.

Status: Existence Unconfirmed

Dracula (1920) is an alleged Russian film adaptation of Dracula. The existence of this film has not been confirmed, as no production stills, footage, or significant information about the film seem to have survived. If the film did indeed exist, it would be the first film adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel, Dracula.

Some sources cite Victor Tourjansky as the director of the film, but most official data doesn't mention the movie in his filmography. The "lost" status information about the film comes from The Vampire Book - The Encyclopedia Of The Undead by J. Gordon Melton.

Considering the film was made in 1920, it might have been destroyed in the Russian Civil War. Russian news website Dimitrovgrad Panorama claims that the movie was found in Serbia, but due to no further developments that would confirm the credibility of the information, it seems likely to be a hoax.

According to a Russian academic encyclopedia page, the movie is listed in the Russian State Film Fund and starred Ukrainian actors.

The existence itself of the film has been put into question. One argument against it is its purported 1920 year of making that would place it in the middle of the Russian Civil War, a time where almost all of film production was enforced into documentaries and propaganda material. It has been theorized that the movie has simply been confused with the lost 1921 Hungarian Dracula film.

Fake findings

A short black-and-white movie surfaced, claiming to be the 1920 film found in Serbia, but it is obvious from several elements that it is a recently-made film using several techniques to make it look old. A poster was created alongside the short film.

Another short video resembling old black-and-white silent footage surfaced online, presenting itself as a found fragment of the 1920 film, directed by Viktor Turzanski in Yalta. The description subtly specifies it is fake, but this has fooled many casual viewers who think it is genuine footage.

Gallery

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  Reference to the film in The Vampire Book; screencap courtesy of Cinemassacre.

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  Re-worded reference to the film in the newer edition of the same book.

See Also

• Batman Dracula (partially found Andy Warhol film; 1964)
• Batman Fights Dracula (partially found Filipino comedy parody film; 1967)
• Dracula (partially found epilogue scene of Universal horror film; 1931)
• Dracula Hunter (lost arcade game; 1979)
• Dracula's Death (lost horror film; 1921)
• The Un-Dead (partially found original Dracula manuscript; 1897)

External Link

• Wikipedia page with a brief description of the film. Retrieved 17 Mar '16.
• Russian Academic Encyclopedia page about the film